Pennsylvania school district approves voucher plan

A public school board in Pennsylvania has approved the state's only voucher program providing public funds for private schools.

The Southeast Delco school board voted 7-0 Wednesday to implement a plan that would pay parents to send their children to private and parochial schools.

The voucher plan would provide $250 for each child attending a private kindergarten, $500 for each child in grades one through eight, and $1,000 for each child in grades nine-12. Funds would be available to all students–including those already attending private schools–in the district.

School officials said the voucher program would cost the district about $1.2 million next year if it were implemented.

Pennsylvania's governor issued a statement praising the action last night following the school board's decision.

“I applaud the Southeast Delco school board for taking this ambitious and important step to give parents more control over their children's education. … Simply put, this plan … affirms the belief that parents–not government–know what's best for their kids,” said Gov. Tom Ridge.

No state has yet successfully administered a voucher program. Federal and state courts have consistently held that parochial school voucher programs run afoul of the First Amendment's separation of church and state principle by providing direct government support for religion.

Two major programs in Cleveland and Milwaukee are clouded in uncertainty due to ongoing court challenges based on the First Amendment. Last year, the Ohio Court of Appeals ruled that the Cleveland program violates the separation of church and state by providing direct government funding to religious institutions. That decision has now been appealed to the state's high court.

The Milwaukee program, which is similar to Cleveland's, has likewise been invalidated by a state court ruling that said it subverts the separation of church and state.

Both voucher programs have been challenged by the People for the American Way, a Washington-based civil rights organization. That organization has also put the Southeast Delco school board on notice of possible legal action if its voucher plan is implemented.

Judith Schaeffer, deputy legal director of People for the American Way, said that “efforts are under way to contact people in the community who don't want money used in such a foolish and unconstitutional way.”

Schaeffer said the program not only subverts the First Amendment but also the state's constitution. Article 3 of the Pennsylvania constitution states that no money raised for support of public schools shall be appropriated to or used for sectarian schools.

“The action the school board took is shameful,” Schaeffer said. “What the school board is intending to do is turn over public money to people already affluent enough to send their children to private schools. The Supreme Court has already concluded that the Establishment clause prevents public funds from being used to support private schools.”

Board President Mary Carol Flemming says she is not moved by the threats of legal action. “I'm prepared to go to the United States Supreme Court with this.”

Colby May, of the American Center for Law and Justice, a national legal and educational religious liberty group, said that voucher programs “are the only way to ensure that students can achieve an excellent education.

“Public schools, particularly in less affluent areas, are not excellent schools,” said May, director for the office of government affairs at the ACLJ. “Voucher programs empower parents and families with the tools to make sure their children will be competitive in a complex world.”

May also criticized opponents of voucher programs for not “grappling with the fact that if voucher programs exclude religious schools, then you have some serious discrimination problems.

“A government voucher program that would provide funds for parents and students to attend only secular private schools and not sectarian ones would not only violate the First Amendment guarantee of freedom of association but also the equal protection rights under the 14th Amendment,” May said.

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THE EXPERTS

The First Amendment Center is an educational organization and cannot provide legal advice.

Ken Paulson is president of the First Amendment Center and dean of the College of Mass Communication at Middle Tennessee State University. He is also the former editor-in-chief of USA Today.

Gene Policinski, chief operating officer of the Newseum Institute, also is senior vice president of the First Amendment Center, a center of the institute. He is a veteran journalist whose career has included work in newspapers, radio, television and online.

John Seigenthaler founded the Newseum Institute’s First Amendment Center in 1991 with the mission of creating national discussion, dialogue and debate about First Amendment rights and values.

About The First Amendment Center

We support the First Amendment and build understanding of its core freedoms through education, information and entertainment.

The center serves as a forum for the study and exploration of free-expression issues, including freedom of speech, of the press and of religion, and the rights to assemble and to petition the government.

Founded by John Seigenthaler, the First Amendment Center is an operating program of the Freedom Forum and is associated with the Newseum and the Diversity Institute. The center has offices in the John Seigenthaler Center at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., and at the Newseum in Washington, D.C.

The center’s website, www.firstamendmentcenter.org, is one of the most authoritative sources of news, information and commentary in the nation on First Amendment issues. It features daily updates on news about First Amendment-related developments, as well as detailed reports about U.S. Supreme Court cases involving the First Amendment, and commentary, analysis and special reports on free expression, press freedom and religious-liberty issues. Support the work of the First Amendment Center.

1 For All

1 for All is a national nonpartisan program designed to build understanding and support for First Amendment freedoms. 1 for All provides teaching materials to the nation’s schools, supports educational events on America’s campuses and reminds the public that the First Amendment serves everyone, regardless of faith, race, gender or political leanings. It is truly one amendment for all. Visit 1 for All at http://1forall.us/

Help tomorrow’s citizens find their voice: Teach the First Amendment

The most basic liberties guaranteed to Americans – embodied in the 45 words of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution – assure Americans a government that is responsible to its citizens and responsive to their wishes.

These 45 words are as alive and important today as they were more than 200 years ago. These liberties are neither liberal nor conservative, Democratic nor Republican – they are the basis for our representative democratic form of government.

We know from studies beginning in 1997 by the nonpartisan First Amendment Center, and from studies commissioned by the Knight Foundation and others, that few adult Americans or high school students can name the individual five freedoms that make up the First Amendment.

The lesson plans – drawn from materials prepared by the Newseum and the First Amendment Center – will draw young people into an exploration of how their freedoms began and how they operate in today’s world. Students will discuss just how far individual rights extend, examining rights in the school environment and public places. The lessons may be used in history and government, civics, language arts and journalism, art and debate classes. They may be used in sections or in their entirety. Many of these lesson plans indicate an overall goal, offer suggestions on how to teach the lesson and list additional resources and enrichment activities.

First Amendment Moot Court Competition

This site no longer is being updated … And the competition itself is moving to Washington, D.C., where the Newseum Institute’s First Amendment Center is co-sponsoring the “Seigenthaler-Sutherland Cup National First Amendment Moot Court Competition,” March 18-19, in partnership with the Columbus School of Law, of the Catholic University of America.

During the two-day competition in February, each team will participate in a minimum of four rounds, arguing a hypothetical based on a current First Amendment controversy before panels of accomplished jurists, legal scholars and attorneys.

FIRST AMENDMENT CENTER ARCHIVES

State of the First Amendment survey reports

The State of the First Amendment surveys, commissioned since 1997 by the First Amendment Center and Newseum, are a regular check on how Americans view their first freedoms of speech, press, assembly, religion and petition.

The periodic surveys examine public attitudes toward freedom of speech, press, religion and the rights of assembly and petition; and sample public opinion on contemporary issues involving those freedoms.
See the reports.